Curing Headaches By Settling Your Mind

1. Sit comfortably in silence with your eyes closed for thirty seconds.

2. Perform a brief body massage.

Some meditation traditions recommend that the massage be executed slightly differently for men and women?

The massage begins by gently pressing the hands against the face, then upward on the top of the head, back down the neck, and towards the heart. (All massage elements move towards, and finish at the heart.)

Men continue by gently using the left hand to press and massage, first the right hand, and then up the arm, and back down towards the heart. Again, this is all done with the left hand.

Women do the same, but they begin by massaging the left hand and arm (back toward the heart) with the right hand.

Then both men and women switch arms and massage the other hand and arm, again, back toward the heart. Then men continue by massaging the right foot and leg, upward toward the heart. This is done by pressing with both hands gently. Then, massage the left foot and leg, again, upward toward the heart. Women do the same, but they begin with the left foot and leg, upward toward the heart, before repeating the process for the right foot and leg. This is best done with the eyes closed.

The total time for the massage is about a minute.

7. While sitting comfortably with the back straight, perform a breathing technique that is called "pranayama." Begin with ten seconds of fast pranayama. This is done using very short, gentle breaths, closing one nostril at a time after each outward and inward breath.

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